Maybe this boomer can offer some perspective. The late 70s were the days of disco. The non-disco boomers were in a sad, dark place. As a very late boomer, it wasn't a great time to be a teenager, disco is not rebel music. My redemption came when Devo, the Ramones, the B-52s came on the scene.
Can't believe you failed to mention Bob wasn't just a Midwestern guy but a DETROIT guy.
But in all seriousness, I think a lot of folks from there were nostalgic by the late '70s, all that that city had gone through. And his recording career had been going almost 20 years old when he cut Old Time Rock and Roll--he really had come out of that old scene, wasn't just a Happy Days poser!
I don’t think he was a poser! Several people have reached out to me with some of his stuff from before he broke out at 31. He’s got the goods! But that song—the one he’s best known for—IS basically Happy Days pastiche, no?
Alec, I think we could argue that nostalgia — "a longing or sickness" for "home" — is *usually* for an imagined experience. With what we know or think we know of the way memory works, aren't we often rounding off the rough edges on pleasant memories to make them more pleasant or palatable. There might arguably be a point along that continuum where we could say that the experience is more imagined, or at least as imagined, as remembered.
Maybe this boomer can offer some perspective. The late 70s were the days of disco. The non-disco boomers were in a sad, dark place. As a very late boomer, it wasn't a great time to be a teenager, disco is not rebel music. My redemption came when Devo, the Ramones, the B-52s came on the scene.
Love it. Hits home with all the Boomers especially the Midwest ones. Thanks for another great one.
Can't believe you failed to mention Bob wasn't just a Midwestern guy but a DETROIT guy.
But in all seriousness, I think a lot of folks from there were nostalgic by the late '70s, all that that city had gone through. And his recording career had been going almost 20 years old when he cut Old Time Rock and Roll--he really had come out of that old scene, wasn't just a Happy Days poser!
I don’t think he was a poser! Several people have reached out to me with some of his stuff from before he broke out at 31. He’s got the goods! But that song—the one he’s best known for—IS basically Happy Days pastiche, no?
Good stuff. More musicological content.
This means a lot, coming from a fellow music scholar.
It may shock you to learn that Bob Seger tours through Buffalo, NY regularly. My (boomer) parents never miss his shows.
PS - I’ve had “Workin’ on my Night Cheese” in my head all day. No nuance, no nostalgia, just about eating cheese.
The Buffalo tour is *not* shocking! That's amazing that your parents always go.
Liz Lemon is the best.
Cheers on a fine, fine post. Any chance you could explore the circumstances under which David Bowie returns back to earth in his new form?
Ha! That will take more work. David Bowie did not reach me out in farm country. I had to go to college to learn about him.
If you substitute “David Bowie” with virtually any interesting artist and “farm country” with “suburbia”, your sentence works for me as well.
Sub, thanks for this.
Is it nostalgia when the warm feeling is for an experience imagined?
"Footfalls echo in the memory
Down the passage which we did not take "
Alec, I think we could argue that nostalgia — "a longing or sickness" for "home" — is *usually* for an imagined experience. With what we know or think we know of the way memory works, aren't we often rounding off the rough edges on pleasant memories to make them more pleasant or palatable. There might arguably be a point along that continuum where we could say that the experience is more imagined, or at least as imagined, as remembered.
I am the dad who likes Bob Seger. Not from the Midwest and not a boomer but I still find him relatable. Maybe I’m just an old soul.